Being a good mentor

Where the experienced welcome the inexperienced under their wing and illuminate the path ahead

Author

Jakub Chodounsky
July 17, 2023

Being a good mentor
24 minutes by Vadim Kravcenko

Let’s talk about the process where the experienced welcome the inexperienced under their wing and illuminate the path ahead.

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One of the first leadership books I read was Patrick Lencioni’s The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, which introduces the concept of your peers being your “first team” rather than your direct reports. This was a powerful idea for me, because it’s much harder to be a good teammate to your peers than to your direct reports. While your incentives are usually aligned with the team you manage, it’s very common for your incentives to be at odds with your peers’ incentives.

There is no number one tip
9 minutes by James Stanier

What's the one tip I'd recommend to a new manager? Well, it's complicated. Let's have a look at a model for learning new skills.

If you are a “team of one” and ever feel stuck/isolated, it’s totally normal (and encouraged) to lean on other folks here for help.

Rewriting code isn't a magic fix-all. Consider the opportunity cost, complexity of the old system, and estimation challenges. Instead of stopping all to rewrite or building new while maintaining the old, try incremental improvements and new code adoption.

Paint Drip People
1 minute by Kent Beck

I was a big fan of the T model of skills, introduced by David Guest in 1991: know about a lot of things, be really good at one. The more I taught it, the more unhappy I got with the metaphor.

Right-sizing your technology team
8 minutes by Ryan Murray

Managing the scale of your technology teams to accomplish strategic goals can be challenging. How can business leaders get it right?

Leveraging strengths – not "fixing weaknesses" – is how to win. Better when differentiated. Best when durable. Here's how to create leverage.

If you find Leadership In Tech useful, you should check out Pointer.io. It’s a reading club for software developers that’s read by CTOs, engineering managers and senior developers. They send out super high quality engineering-related content and it’s completely free!

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